Ind, B’desh river experts at Farakka today to take water pact talks forward
Times of India | 3 March 2025
12 Kolkata: Indian and Bangladeshi river experts will visit Farakka on Monday to make a review of the water level at Farakka to take forward the dialogue on the renewal of the Ganga Water Treaty, set to end in Dec 2026.
An 11-member Bangladesh team led by Muhammad Abul Hossen, a member of the Joint River Commission (JRC), will be at Farakka to participate in the observation with an 11-member Indian delegation. The experts from Bangladesh will hold a meeting with state irrigation secretary Manish Jain on March 7.
It might be recalled that Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had expressed her displeasure with PM Narendra Modi after he held talks with former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina in June 2024 in Delhi on the renewal of the pact. In a letter to the PM, Banerjee had written: "I came to understand that the Govt of India is in the process of renewing the Indo-Bangladesh Farakka Treaty (1996), which is to expire in 2026. It is a treaty which delineates the principles of sharing of water between Bangladesh and India, and as you are aware, it has huge implications for the people of Bengal for maintaining their livelihood and that the water which is diverted at the Farakka barrage helps in maintaining the navigability of the Kolkata port."
The 30-year pact was signed on Dec 12, 1996, by then-PMs HD Deve Gowda and Hasina. With a change of guard in Bangladesh, there are certain apprehensions about the renewal of the treaty.
The treaty fixes a schedule of water flow from the Farakka barrage from Jan to May, the lean season. The pact says India can get up to 40,000 cusecs of water if the availability at Farakka exceeds 75,000 cusec. However, if the availability falls below 70,000 cusec, the flow is to be divided equally between the two neighbours. The treaty ensured 35,000 cusec to Bangladesh if the flow is between 70,000 to 75,000 cusec.
Former Kolkata port chairman Bikram Sarkar, during whose tenure the pact was inked, said that the treaty was faulty and had dried up the port, making it virtually impossible for ships to reach the city. "Our CM's objection to the treaty is justified. I had objected too, but it was not heard. There is a 10-day period average water availability clause in the pact which dried the water flow. There needs to be an amendment in the pact," he said.
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